Government doing nothing to end logjam, says FTII students

Pune, Sept. 14 (ANI) Students of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), who are on an indefinite hunger strike demanding removal of recently appointed chairman Gajendra Chauhan, attacked the ruling government on Monday for not reaching out to them to resolve the impasse.

Students of India (FTII) in Pune have been boycotting classes in protest of Chauhan’s appointment for 95 days now.

They had begun an indefinite hunger strike five days back.

Three students have been hospitalised since the indefinite hunger strike got underway.

Representative of students association, Vikas Urs, said that it was disappointing to see that neither the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting – which governs the institute – nor the administration was taking any steps to resolve the ongoing crisis.

“It’s been 100 hours since students have been sitting on a hunger strike and we haven’t received any communication so far from the ministry. One is only hopeful every time we reach out to the ministry through the media that they would pay attention and get back to us,” said Urs.

Last month, a three-member team of I&B ministry had met students and staff members to resolve the issue. However, the students say that they are yet to receive any official communication from the government after the meet.

Students have been opposing Chauhan’s appointment as they say that he is not qualified enough to head the institute and also object to his political affiliations to various Hindu organisations, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Urs added that the student agitation was going to intensify in the coming days.(ANI)